


Take Me To The Homecoming Dance (Again)

by pocketmumbles (livelikejack)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Demisexual Character, Everyone Is Alive, High School, Homecoming, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 09:11:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3351203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livelikejack/pseuds/pocketmumbles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So, Homecoming’s coming up,” Liam says.</p><p>Mason looks up at the giant campaign posters in front of them, then down at the smaller ones in his arms. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”</p><p>Liam rolls his eyes and holds out his hand for tape. “I was just wondering if you, uh, had a date yet.”<br/> </p><p> </p><p>  <em>(Or, five times Liam totally failed at asking Mason to go to Homecoming with him, and one time he technically still failed anyway.)</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Me To The Homecoming Dance (Again)

**Author's Note:**

> For an anonymous prompt I got ages ago on Tumblr. It is nowhere near Homecoming anymore, so Happy Valentine's Day instead!
> 
> My school didn’t do Homecoming, so I’m basing this stuff off Google. I went with the variation where King/Queen = seniors, Prince/Princess = juniors, Duke/Duchess = sophomores, Lord/Lady = freshmen; the Court are crowned during a pep rally a day or so before the game; and the King and Queen are crowned after the game. Fic title from ["Homecoming" by The Dollyrots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSg_1iJCONw).
> 
> Everyone is alive and Liam is demi because why the hell not.

  _ **1.**_

“So, Homecoming’s coming up,” Liam says.

Mason looks up at the giant campaign posters in front of them, then down at the smaller ones in his arms. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

Liam rolls his eyes and holds out his hand for tape. “I was just wondering if you, uh, had a date yet.”

“It’s not for another month or whatever, I’ve got time,” Mason says. He reaches up and tapes Liam’s poster next to Scott’s – taking a moment to straighten Scott’s poster. For all that Stiles is meticulous in his designs, he has a tendency to throw up the finished product haphazardly, and Mason’s pretty sure that Scott still isn’t even aware that he’s been nominated, much less leading the senior vote. He nudges Liam with a grin. “Don’t worry, I won’t shame my Homecoming Duke best friend by showing up dateless.”

“That’s not – I’m just _nominated_ , okay, I probably won’t be Duke,” Liam says.

“You probably will,” Mason says. “Scott’s a shoo-in for Homecoming King, and you’re his favorite sophomore in the whole wide world.” He tweaks Liam’s ear, snorting when Liam wiggles away with a half-hearted whine. “But even if you don’t win, you’ll always be the duke of _my_ heart.” Mason pitches his voice up and bats his eyelashes, hoping the dramatics are enough to distract from his heart pounding way too fast to be casual.

Liam just rolls his eyes and puts up another poster, so hopefully it worked. “Oh, shut up,” he mutters.

Mason smirks and follows him down the hall. “What about you, though?” he asks. “You’re gonna be Homecoming Court, man, you _need_ a date for the dance. How come you haven’t asked anyone yet?”

In a perfect world, Liam would turn to Mason and say, “Because I want to ask _you_ ,” and balloons would fall from the ceiling, and Scott would probably cry, and there’d be a foot-popping kiss at some point. But instead, Liam just shrugs at his poster and says, “I’m just keeping my options open, I guess.”

Mason suppresses the urge to sigh. “Well, you better get a move on. You’re not gonna have many options left, soon.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m working on it,” Liam says. He steps back from the last poster and turns to Mason, and Mason feels his stomach sink. Here it comes. He’s going to ask Mason to help him find a date for Homecoming, and Mason’s going to have to grit his teeth and be a good supportive best friend who isn’t hopelessly in love with him. “Listen, I was wondering-”

The bell rings over their heads, and Liam jumps back with a flinch. “Shit, I have to get to history,” Mason says. “Text me later, okay?”

He’s already halfway down the hall by the time he hears Liam’s reluctant, “Okay…”

 

 

_**2.** _

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:11 pm

_omg econs so BORRRRRRING_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:14 pm

_mason help me im so boredddddddd_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:16 pm

_hes just flipping pennies into cups SAVE ME_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:17 pm

_if u turned into a werejello what flavor would u b_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:17 pm

_lemon lime_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:19 pm

_gross thats like the worst flavor_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:20 pm

_thats funny your phone autocorrected best into worst for some reason_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:21 pm

_keep dreaming dunbar_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:21 pm

_id never eat u if u were lemon lime_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:23 pm

_w_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:27 pm

_why would you want to eat me_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:29 pm

_bc werejellos regrow their limbs so u get like an unlimited supply of jello duh_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:29 pm

_but if ur lemon lime flavored whats the point_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:30 pm

_oh haha well sorry deal with it_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:30 pm

_what flavor would you be_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:31 pm

_blueberry_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:31 pm

_u kno the REAL best flavor_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:32 pm

_blueberrys okay_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:32 pm

_id eat you if you were a blueberry jello_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:33 pm

_like not like your whole hand but like at least 2 fingers_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:33 pm

_this is why were friends_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:35 pm

_oh hey werent u tryin to tell me smthg at lunch_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:37 pm

_oh_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:37 pm

_yeah_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:38 pm

_um so i was wondering_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:40 pm

_…yes?_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:42 pm

_would you ghnb mkljn .mbnj_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:42 pm

_what_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:45 pm

_liam u ok_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:47 pm

_do i need to call scott_

**From:** Liam Dunbar, 1:50 pm

_HELLO LIAMS FRIEND YES PLEASE INFORM SCOTT OR ANOTHER OF LIAMS GUARDIANS THAT THEY MAY PICK UP HIS PHONE AT THE END OF THE DAY AFTER LACROSSE PRACTICE AND ALSO THAT TEXTING DURING CLASS IS FORBIDDEN .SIGNED COACH_

**To:** Liam Dunbar, 1:55 pm

_yes sir_

 

 

_**3.** _

“So, realistically speaking, what are the odds of this Krasue sneaking up on us and totally tearing our faces off?”

“It won’t sneak up on us,” Liam says, rolling his eyes. “I’ll be able to sense it before it senses us. Scott wouldn’t let us split up like this if he didn’t think we couldn’t handle it.”

Mason smiles and turns his flashlight back to the forest floor before he trips over a tree root. “Well, that’s slightly comforting considering we’re, y’know, wandering around in the middle of the forest in the dead of night.”

“We’re not in the middle of the forest. We’re barely in the forest at all.”

He has a point. They’re so close to the treeline that Mason can still see Stiles’ Jeep in the parking lot. Still, “It’s still creepy,” he says. “I’d rather keep my face the way it is.”

“Me, too,” Liam says. He glances around them, listening carefully, then slouches against a tree with a sigh. “Hey, so.” He crosses his arms, drops them to his sides, then settles for jamming them in his pockets. “Do you have a date for Homecoming yet?”

Mason’s heart jolts, and he quickly covers it up by staring towards the parking lot. “Did you hear-”

“There’s nothing there,” Liam says immediately. He smiles crookedly at Mason. “Don’t worry, man. Nothing’s gonna happen to you while I’m here.”

He relaxes, sitting down on a tree root. “I figured I’d ask Brett,” he says with a shrug. “His Homecoming’s not ‘till the week after, and him being a werewolf’s a nice bonus.”

Liam tilts his head. “Bonus?” he asks, voice too tight to be casual. “How?”

“Well, this is Beacon Hills,” Mason says. “A werewolf date to help me with whatever crazy supernatural thing that’ll inevitably happen at the dance is a nice bonus.”

“Nothing’s going to happen at the dance,” Liam says, rolling his eyes.

“Uh-huh,” Mason says flatly. “Just like nothing happened at last year’s junior prom.”

“That was one time-”

“And the winter formal the year before that.”

“Well-”

“And like half of the lacrosse games I’ve gone to.”

Liam sighs. “Okay, _maybe_ something might happen.” He crosses his arms with a shrugs. “But we’ll all be there, I mean. I’d make sure nothing happened to you.”

“Yeah, you better not,” Mason says, reaching out to whack his knee lightly. “But, like, you should probably worry about your own date first. I can take care of myself, and Brett having my back’d just be a bonus.” He blinks. “Hey, have you asked anyone yet?”

“Uh, no.” Liam scratches the back of his head, face scrunching awkwardly. “I’ve just been busy, y’know, with my econ project and then helping Scott with finding a cure for the Krasue, it kinda slipped my mind.”

“Well, you better get a move on,” Mason says, pasting a smile onto his face. “It’s only a few weeks away; all the good ones’ll be gone soon.”

“Yeah,” Liam mutters at Mason’s shoulder. “Yeah, I know.”

He sounds so dejected that Mason hears his idiot mouth say, “Listen, uh, I could help you, if you want?”

Liam’s head jerks up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Mason says, swallowing hard. It’s what best friends are for, after all. As long as Liam’s happy, it doesn’t matter that Mason’d rather – it doesn’t matter. “I mean, I know crushes aren’t really your speed, or, like – like, I get how it can be really hard to find someone to ask out for something as stupid as a school dance when you’re demi.”

Liam cracks a smile. “Don’t let Lydia hear you calling the dance stupid.”

“She doesn’t scare me,” Mason says, lifting his chin. Liam snorts. “Really! But, anyway, I could help you narrow down your choices. I mean, I’m not really the greatest authority on girls, but…” He waves his hands around. “I’m pretty good at telling assholes from nice people.”

“Oh.” Liam’s face falls a little before his mouth curls into a smirk. “If you’re so good at that, how’d Brett get through?”

“He’s not an asshole.” Liam rolls his eyes. “I mean it, Liam. I know you two got off to a rough start, but he’s actually pretty nice when you get to know him.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Liam says with a scoff. “Have fun wi-” He freezes, head snapping towards the dark trees. “Get to the Jeep.”

“What?”

Liam hauls him to his feet and all but throws him towards the treeline. “Get in the Jeep _now!_ ”

Mason skids over an errant rock and pelts for the parking lot, not bothering to question Liam or look over his shoulder. He flings the Jeep’s door open and dives inside, turning around just to watch Liam slam the door in his face. “Liam!” he yells, trying to force the door open against Liam’s weight. “What the hell are you doing? Get in here!”

Liam shakes his head, staring around the parking lot. “Scott’ll be here soon, just gotta hold it off ‘til then,” he mutters to himself, then turns to meet Mason’s eyes through the glass. “Whatever you do, Mason, don’t open that door. Don’t leave the Jeep, okay, promise me.”

“Liam-” Mason begins, and then a dark form flies out of the forest and tackles Liam to the ground. _“Liam!”_

 

 

 _**4.**_  

Mason slowly walks into the hospital room, eyes flicking over the tubes stuck in his best friend’s body. “I’m fine,” Liam says.

The machine next to him beeps steadily. “You sure don’t look like it.”

“Mason.” Mason wrenches his gaze away from the fresh scabs and fading bruises spread across Liam’s arms and finally meets his eyes. “I’m not healing as quickly as usual, but I _am_ healing, and Scott’s mom _and_ my dad are taking care of me,” Liam says. “I’m fine.”

“You should’ve gotten in the Jeep with me,” Mason says. “What the hell were you thinking, staying out there?”

“I was making sure nothing happened to you,” Liam says, shrugging easily. He flashes Mason a slightly pained grin. Mason makes a mental note to tell Scott; he’d said he’d taken away Liam’s pain, but maybe it’s starting to come back already. “Wouldn’t want you to have to be all bandaged up when you take Brett to Homecoming, after all.”

Mason pulls the chair closer to Liam’s bed and sits down. “I really hope that wasn’t your main reason,” he says with a wince. “’Cause, uh, I’m not.”

Liam’s eyebrows shoot up. “What?”

“Yeah, apparently non-BHHS students can’t go to Homecoming,” Mason says. “Stiles told me.”

“Oh.” Liam blinks down at his hands. “I’m sorry, man.”

“No biggie,” Mason says with an easy shrug. “Maybe I’ll just get Allison to lend me one of those baton things so I can hide it under my jacket.”

Liam’s face scrunches. “What?”

“You know, those collapsible ones that zap the hell out of you,” Mason says. “She’s been teaching me how to use them, and I’m not gonna be able to sneak a baseball bat into the dance.”

Liam doesn’t look any less confused. “But what does that have to do with Brett?”

“Huh?” Mason blinks. “Oh, because I won’t have a werewolf date to help me with the inevitable supernatural drama that happens in the middle of the dance. That’s kind of the only reason I wanted to ask him.”

“Oh,” Liam says, twisting his blankets in his lap. “I thought – oh.” The machine starts beeping faster. “So who are you gonna ask, then?”

Mason shrugs. “There’s no one I really wan – I mean, I think I’ll just go stag,” he corrects before Liam can hear him lie. “Less of a hassle when something goes wrong, y’know?”

“Nothing’s going to go wrong,” Liam says.

Mason raises a pointed eyebrow at him. “Somehow I don’t really believe that.”

Liam laughs. “Hey, um.”

Mason waits, but silence stretches between them, broken only by increasingly annoying beeps from the machine. “…Yes?”

“I was wondering,” Liam says. The machine seems to somehow get louder, or maybe it’s just beeping faster. “Since you. And, well, like, what if. Like-”

The door bursts open, and Nurse McCall hurries inside. “Your heart rate’s skyrocketing, Liam, are you feeling alright?”

“He kind of started looking like he was in pain again,” Mason tells her, peering over her shoulder while she inspects Liam. “Should I go get Scott?”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Liam all but whines. He stares up miserably at Nurse McCall. “Please don’t get Scott. I’m fine. I promise.”

Nurse McCall sits back. “Well, everything seems fine,” she says, frowning a little. “I think you just need some rest.”

Mason stands. “I should go, then.”

“Wait!” Liam tries to sit up, but Nurse McCall stops him with a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to go.”

“You heard Nurse McCall; you need rest so you can hurry up and get better,” Mason says. He musters up a cheery grin. “And the faster you get better, the sooner we can find you a date for Homecoming.”

Liam falls back against the pillow with a sigh. “Right.”

 

 

 _ **5.**_  

The Homecoming game is an easy win, but everyone cheers anyway when the final score flashes. Malia almost yanks Mason’s arm out of his socket as she tugs him off the bleachers, and he stumbles over Derek’s feet while Erica and Braeden high-five next to him.

“Mason!” He looks up in time to see Liam wave at him from the field before disappearing under a pile of teammates. He waves back and makes his way across the field, reaching the team by the time Liam resurfaces. “Hey, man,” he says, clapping Liam on the back. “Good game.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Liam says distractedly. A few feet away, Coach starts shooing the crowd off the field while the Homecoming committee sets up the crowning for King and Queen. “Listen, there’s something I need to ask you.”

Mason nods. “Don’t worry, no one else saw you totally eat dirt when that guy tackled you.” He pulls off Liam’s helmet and brushes his face clean. “There. Totally Homecoming Duke-ready.”

“I did not-” Liam protests, shoving Mason with a laugh. “No, what I meant was-”

“Dunbar!” Coach shouts, waving Liam’s crown. “Get over here with the rest of the Court!”

Mason winces. “Sounds like you gotta get going.”

“Yeah,” Liam says, glaring at the general direction of the Homecoming committee. “But can we talk when this is done?”

“Yeah, of course.” Mason frowns. “Is something wrong?”

“No, I just-”

_“DUNBAR!”_

Liam sighs. “I’ll be right back, okay?” he says, clapping Mason’s shoulder before jogging for the podium.

Scott is crowned Homecoming King, to absolutely no one’s surprise but his. The bleachers rattle with cheers as he smiles bashfully at the crowd, and again when Lydia is crowned next to him. “I kind of wish they crowned them with the rest of the Court yesterday,” Allison says, wrinkling her nose. “The guys are still all sweaty and dirty from the game.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Malia asks.

“Well, it doesn’t look as clean in the pictures,” Allison says, nodding at the Court getting shuffled around by the photographer. Her phone beeps. “Oh, Braeden says they got us a big booth at the diner. We should head over now so we can save seats for Kira and the guys when Coach lets them go.”

Malia leads them through the crowd to Allison’s car on the far side of the parking lot. “I’m not waiting for them to get there before we order, though,” she says. “I’m starving.”

“If we eat really fast,” Mason suggests, “We can just order again when they get there and they won’t even know we didn’t wait.”

Malia grins at him. “I like the way you think.”

 

Liam seems a little bummed out at dinner, so Mason squashes closer to him and flicks his crown. “What’s up, Duke?”

Liam rolls his eyes and yanks his crown off, dumping it on Mason’s head instead. “Shut up,” he says, but the corners of his mouth quirk up, so Mason counts it as a win.

Mason grins and steals an onion ring. “Hey, so what did you want to talk about earlier?”

Liam glances around the crowded booth, then shakes his head. “Never mind.”

“You sure?” Mason asks. He glances around. Stiles seems to be trying to send Liam some weird message with his eyebrows for some reason. “We can leave if you want-”

“No, it’s fine,” Liam says quickly. He nudges Mason with a grin. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay,” Mason says uncertainly. He turns back to his plate, only to find that Liam’s stolen all of his curly fries. “Hey!”

 

 

_**+1.** _

Mason’s breath doesn’t catch when he watches Liam step out of the car. It doesn’t. “Wow,” he says, and tries to push as much friendly admiration into his voice as possible. “You look great.”

Liam ducks his head with a grin. “Thanks,” he says, sounding unnaturally shy.

Mason elbows him gently as they head for the gym. “I can’t believe no one wanted to go with you to the dance,” he says, shaking his head. “Homecoming Duke, most popular guy in the entire sophomore class…and no one you asked said yes. That’s messed up.”

“Yeah, about that,” Liam says with a nervous laugh. “I, uh, I didn’t actually ask anyone.”

Mason stops dead in his tracks. “What?”

“I didn’t ask anyone,” Liam repeats slowly, rubbing the back of his head. “I…didn’t want to go with any of them.”

“So, like, that list of people I gave you – aw, man, I’m sorry.” Mason slumps. “I shouldn’t have assumed you wanted a date, that was-”

“I do!” Liam says quickly. “Did. Whatever. Just, like, no one who was on that list.”

Mason stares at him for a long moment before slapping himself on the forehead. “Oh my god. I’m the worst best friend in the world. I don’t even know your taste in Homecoming dates.”

“No, I mean, they’re all really nice people,” Liam tries.

“This is why Scott and Stiles wiped the floor with us in Pictionary.”

“Mason,” Liam says, rolling his eyes, “They beat us because you are the worst artist I’ve ever met, not because you’re a bad friend.”

“I’m gonna make this up to you,” Mason says determinedly, marching towards the gym doors.

Liam sighs. “Mason, you don’t have to-”

“Who was it? I’ll make sure you get at least _one_ dance with them.” He stops as a thought suddenly hits him. “Wait, do we even know if they came to the dance?”

 _“Mason_ -”

“Tickets,” Coach says boredly, holding out his hand at the doors.

“Mason will you go to Homecoming with me!” Liam yells, and then abruptly hides behind his hand with a groan.

Mason stares. “Wow, this is awkward,” Coach mutters behind him. “You know what, I’m not even here. I’m just gonna go hide behind that tree.”

Mason blinks at Liam. “…What?” he finally manages.

Liam slowly uncovers one eye. “WillyougotoHomecomingwithme,” he mumbles into his hand.

“You wanted to go to Homecoming with me?” Mason asks. His heart decides to start pumping in his throat for some reason, and he tries to swallow it back down. “You mean, like, as two friends going together?”

Liam slaps his other hand over his face. “No, like, as a _date_.”

His mouth drops open. “Are you serious?”

Liam slowly pulls his hands away from his bright red face. “…No?” Mason whacks his arm. “Hey! What was that for?”

“Why didn’t you ask me sooner?” Mason demands. “I would’ve said yes like eight months ago!”

“I tried!” Liam says, voice squeaking. “I tried so many times but something always came up and then I figured – wait, what?” He blinks at Mason. “You would’ve said yes?”

Mason spreads his hands. “You can’t tell me your werewolf senses never picked that up.” Liam whacks his arm. “Hey! What was that for?”

“I’m bad at crushes and stuff, you know that!” Liam whines. “And I thought you liked Brett!”

“Only ‘cause I thought you’d never be into me!” Mason yells. “Why are we yelling right now?”

“I don’t know, but you’re blocking the entrance,” Coach pipes up. “If you could move over so I could collect tickets, that’d be great.”

Mason glances at the couples staring at them and pulls Liam away from the gym doors. “So,” he says, coughing awkwardly.

Liam runs his hand through his hair. “I really did want to ask you,” he mumbles.

“Well,” Mason says with more bravado than he feels, “There’s still time.”

Liam gestures around them. “We’re _at_ Homecoming.”

“Yeah, and we haven’t gone in yet,” Mason says. “So technically, we can still go together.”

Liam drops his head with a laugh. “Technically,” he agrees, nodding. He looks up and takes a breath. “Mason, will you go with me to Homecoming?”

He reaches forward and grabs Liam’s hand. “I’d love to.” They start to walk back to the door, and Mason drops his hand abruptly to dig in his pocket. “Oh, hang on, I need to get my ticket.”

Liam bursts into laughter. “We are _terrible_ at this.”

“Yeah you are,” Coach says as he takes their tickets. “Tell Tate she owes me twenty bucks.”

“Wait what?” Liam asks. He frowns at Mason as Coach waves them inside. “Were our friends betting on us?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know,” Mason says sincerely. He grabs Liam’s hand again. “Let’s go to Homecoming.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say [hi](http://www.pocketlass.tumblr.com)!


End file.
